


Second Wind

by eternallydaydreaming



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Gen, Minor Character Death, Poverty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-01-21
Packaged: 2019-10-14 04:10:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17501309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eternallydaydreaming/pseuds/eternallydaydreaming
Summary: Levi is faced with a choice to either turn his back on a dying child or give a chance that once was given to him.





	Second Wind

Having grown up in the Underground, one would think that he would be used to the smell of shit and rotting garbage that permeated the air. Perhaps obsessively scrubbing the filth out of his own home, providing the freshest air attainable in the cave-city, caused Levi's senses to grow sensitive to the stench, which was so strong he could practically taste the shit. Glancing over the side of the staircase, Levi spotted a fresh trail of urine on the stone wall. This was the daily life he had grown up with and yet somehow he never noticed just how much the decay surrounded him. However it was impossible to avoid ever leaving his sanctuary. After all there were mouths to feed.

Not caring to draw attention from the military police patrolling the area, Levi pulled the hood of his cloak over his head, casting a shadow over his face, and then descended down the stairs. Levi started down the path to meet with his contact to discuss his new job offer. Walking down the streets, Levi studied his surroundings: the pickpockets looting the oblivious, the beggars often ignored – not that many in the Underground could spare much change - and the ones who have totally given up on living. Only the strong-willed and stubborn survived this life while others perished, usually leaving no one who actually would have missed them anyway.

Pulling out the little piece of paper with the address, in a neighborhood he had never been to, he frowned as he realized he would be walking deeper into the slums. Never mind the fact that to surface citizens the entire Underground was the slums, but to the residents, there still existed a hierarchy correlated to one's viability, ranging from the self-sufficient to the downtrodden who have entirely given up. It's the latter that Levi now knows he's headed toward. A part of him was convinced this was probably a trap yet the risk was one he felt confident in taking. After all, he was taught the skills that has allowed him to survive on his own since he was eleven-years-old. 

So he pressed on, deeper through what appeared to be a graveyard. Catching a glimpse of a man laying on the side of the road, Levi's eyes landed on the knife stuck deep into the man's stomach. Flies buzzed around him, and he wondered just how long the man has been in that one spot – not that there really was a place to bury people within the stone caverns. Levi scrunched up his face as he heard retching coming from the other side of the street. Refusing to watch the scene, Levi imagined the owner of the vile sounds probably had woken up with by a few empty liquor bottles beside him.

Turning around a corner, Levi headed down an ally. With the narrowness of the lane, the people littering the streets made Levi feel a bit claustrophobic. Some people held an empty hand open and softly mumbled. He couldn't hear them but assumed they pleaded for anything that can be spared, be it coin or a crumb of bread. He kept his gaze forward using his cloak like the blinders on a carriage horse. However a deep rumble stopped Levi in his tracks. Levi was initially was impressed that such a strong storm was able to produce thunder loud enough to reach below the surface. However as he listened intently, Levi turned his head to the left and found a girl slumped against a wall. The sound was emanating from her. Levi walked over and crouched next to the girl. She looked like nothing more than skin and bones. Who knows when was the last time she ate. Her breathing was soft, her chest only moved slightly with each inhale. Surveying her body, Levi noticed the splotches of black and blue littering her arms and legs.

 _What a pitiful sight_ , he thought as he stood back up. He still had a meeting to attend and no time to waste on a lost cause.

 _Weren't you once a lost cause too_ , a familiar voice taunted him. A voice that he wished he could forget.

Shaking his head to be rid of his personal ghosts, Levi took a few steps forward but then hesitated when a soft plea reached out to him. He returned his gaze back to the child. The girl reached out a weak arm and mouthed “please.”

_If you leave her, she'll die. You know that, don't'cha?_

No matter how much he tried to shake the voice, it always had a way of creeping back just to pester him. Though he couldn't deny that he too would have perished had he been thrown to the wayside.

* * *

How long had it been? Levi had long lost count of the days. The hunger pains had since dissipated, leaving behind a numb, empty void in his stomach. He should have left the house a long time ago, but where would he have gone? The streets weren't exactly friendly to the hungry orphans. Lost in his thoughts, the door suddenly creaking open startled him. Light spilled into the room along with a man's shadow. Perhaps he had gone mad from his starvation, but Levi watched as a man entered. With his hat and trench coat, it was hard to make out his features.

“Whoa!” The man whispered at first. Then his voice progressively grew louder and seeming to force enthusiasm at seeing a long lost friend. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Ya seem to have lost a lot of weight...Kuchel.”

 _What an idiot._ While he had grown accustomed to the stench decaying flesh, surely this guy's nostrils was invaded by the putrid odor. 

“She's dead,” Levi announced matter-of-factly.

The man's head snapped to his direction, taken back by suddenly discovering the skeletal cage of what once was a child. They stared at each other for several moments, trying to make sense of who the other was. Levi had never seen this man before though he assumed he was one of his mother's old “friends” - the ones who quit visiting after he was born.

Finally composing himself, the man quipped back, “ And you? Are you alive?”

Levi no longer knew himself. He couldn't remember the last time he moved from his spot against the wall. When exactly was the last time he had a full enough bladder to take a piss in the pot?

“Whoa, Gimme a break. Ya understand me, right?”

Silence awkwardly permeated the air again. The man stayed calm and patient but it was beyond Levi why he wouldn't just leave.

“What's your name?” he inquired.

“Levi. Just Levi.”

The man's features softened as he slumped his head forward, hiding his face behind the brim of his hat. He rested his back against the wall and slid down to the floor, muttering something under his breath.

“I'm, Kenny,” he responded with a shaky voice. “Just Kenny. I knew Kuchel. Nice to meet ya.”

Kenny flicked his hat upward and studied the dirty, weak creature in front of him. No meat left on his bones. Sunken, lifeless eyes stared back at Kenny. Releasing a sigh, Kenny stood up and walked back to the door. As he was about to step out, he turned around and noticed Levi had not budged an inch.

“Well, are ya coming or are ya just going to stay and rot with your mother?”

Levi's eyes widened slightly as the offer took him by surprise, but then it was replaced by curiosity. Despite not having much energy left in him, Levi managed to shuffle out of the small house, his hand in Kenny's.

* * *

Levi never understood what possessed Kenny to take a dying child and feed him. Why Kenny took him under his wings and taught him to survive the hell that has been his life. He never understood but he wasn't ungrateful for all Kenny had provided him – even after the bastard abandoned him. Before Kenny, Levi truly was not alive – not since the day his mother died.

Levi bent down in front of the little redhead and listened to her shallow voice. Tear trails had carved paths within the grim caked on her face.

“Where are your parents?”

“In-side,” she mumbled.

Levi looked up at the door, which was cracked open. Pushing it a bit, he saw a woman lying on the floor in a pool of blood. As he continued to press the door open, a man's arm and a gun came into view – both also laid on the floor not far from the woman. 

_Shit!_

Gently closing the door, he prayed the girl didn't actually witness her parents' murder-suicide. With a defeated sigh, Levi knew he had locked himself into a moral responsibility. Leaving her to die was more cold-blooded than being eaten by those fabled mindless titans. Scooping the girl up, Levi abandoned his original mission and headed home.

“What's your name anyway, girl?”

“I-sa-bel,” she replied as she snuggled into Levi's chest.

“Listen well, Isabel. You will learn to walk on your own two feet. You will learn to survive this shitty world and not rely on others. But first, we need to get some meat onto your skinny, bony body. You understand?”

Snores were the only sound Isabel afforded him, but that was enough for Levi. He may not be able to offer her much, but he can at least grant her a second wind.


End file.
